Serica Energy plc (AIM: SQZ) announces that production via the Triton FPSO has been interrupted owing to a problem with the single gas compressor in operation.
A potential dry gas seal failure was identified in the 'A' gas compressor during operations on 26 October. This did not result in a leak of hydrocarbons. The FPSO operator, Dana Petroleum, is working to identify and execute the necessary repair.
As indicated in the announcement of 2 October, the Company's ability to maintain full year production guidance of towards the bottom of the 41,000 to 46,000 boepd range was dependent on sustained production levels of around 50,000 boepd in Q4. Given the outage of production from Triton, Serica's production for 2024 is now expected to be slightly below this previous guidance.
As previously stated, actions are being taken to reduce the operational vulnerability of the Triton FPSO by bringing the second compressor into service. The date for this is likely to be delayed by the corrective work on the 'A' compressor and is now expected to be in Q1 2025.
Production from Serica's other assets is currently in line with expectations, with cash flow aided by the recent level of gas prices. The average month to date market gas price is 97.9 pence per therm, the strongest so far in 2024.
Serica will issue a trading and operations update in mid-November, by which time production on the Triton FPSO is expected to have resumed. The addition of production from the GE-05 well on the Gannet field (SQZ: 100%) is expected shortly after the resumption of production.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
